Dr. Hurtado's research expertise includes: field geology; remote sensing (including uncrewed aerial systems, UAS); and terrestrial/planetary tectonics and geomorphology. He applies this expertise in two broad research areas: lunar science and exploration and active tectonics in the Himalaya.Dr. Hurtado's science-focused lunar work has focused on the use of remotely-sensed datasets to investigate potential in-situ resources on the Moon and their geologic context This has included using thermal infrared data to discover and characterize caves in the lunar subsurface, hyperspectral data to map the presence of water and Ti, and topographic data to identify water-related volcanic features. Dr. Hurtado is also heavily involved in operations-focused lunar work. This includes planning and operations for human exploration of the Moon (see below). Science and operations intersect in extensive work Dr. Hurtado has done in collaboration with NASA at a local planetary analog site (Kilbourne Hole, NM) to show how shallow geophysical tools (e.g., gravity, magnetics, GPR) and field-deployable instrumentation (e.g., XRF, LiDAR, UAS) can be used to characterize water-related explosive volcanic features on other planets. This terrestrial planetary analog work also is relevant for science and operations training in support of planetary exploration.Dr. Hurtado's Himalayan work has focused on field studies of Quaternary geomorphologic features (river terraces, fault scarps, etc.) that record ongoing tectonic uplift along the Himalayan range front in Bhutan. The objective of this work is to evaluate models for the evolution of the Bhutan Himalaya and for assessing seismic hazards.Dr. Hurtado's main focus since 2020 has been in human space exploration through ongoing collaborations with NASA in planetary analog research, astronaut crew training, mission simulation activities, and mission planning and execution for the Artemis program, including both Artemis II (mission operations) and Artemis III (science and mission operations).Dr. Hurtado has also previously worked on various commercial suborbital spaceflight projects, including passenger training program and vehicle development with Virgin Galactic.A research area to which Dr. Hurtado devotes an increasing amount of attention is the use of UAS (uncrewed aerial systems), GIST (geographic information systems and technologies), and advanced 3D imaging and visualization technologies in field geologic research, remote sensing and GIS data analysis, mapping, planetary exploration, and teaching.Dr. Hurtado continues to pursue collaborative research opportunities for developing instrumentation to deploy on the lunar surface and lunar surface operations in support of human and robotic exploration and crew training for planetary field geology.